


Halfway Miracle

by Garchomp445



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 00:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19801168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Garchomp445/pseuds/Garchomp445
Summary: Beruka can't stand the court life like Severa. She leaves a party, and encounters someone else who's just as uncomfortable as her.Written for Fire Emblem Femslash Week July 2019Prompt: July 14th - Mighty





	Halfway Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> this has... been in my drafts for a while. i don't know if i should continue with this.

Beruka hadn’t expected to follow Severa across universes. She also hadn’t expected them to be invited to a royal banquet. Without Camilla, Beruka only had Severa to hide behind, and Severa wasn’t exactly stationary. She introduced Beruka to about thirty different people, including her mom, and then Beruka was too overwhelmed to continue.

At the moment, Severa was running her hands through Beruka’s hair and talking to a tall woman with long, blue hair. Beruka had her eyes closed and was waiting for her heart to stop pounding.

“So of course I had to do all of their laundry in the river, there was no way I’d let them smell like a bunch of dogs.” Severa finished a tight braid, “But then one of the coats started bleeding! Apparently they left some meat for the dogs in their coat pockets!”

“Perhaps they were planning to return to the dogs?”

“Well, they shouldn’t just leave raw meat around! That’s irresponsible!”

“Didn’t you find their coats outside the kennel?”

Severa paused for a second. “Well, whatever, their coats are clean now and that’s all that matters.”

“You haven’t changed a bit. I’m surprised you didn’t take on Anankos singlehandedly.”

“Normal swords don’t do anything to him, so I just had to hang back.”

Beruka cleared her throat, “You were the one who taught us that.”

“Well, you know! Knowledge is power!” Severa let out a light laugh, then sighed, “Yeah Beruka’s right. I broke a sword on his back.”

The other girl laughed uproariously. Beruka cringed, up until now, she had been very quiet. Severa giggled along with her, but also treated Beruka a little more gentle. She said,

“Lucina!” That’s the girl’s name. Beruka tried to commit it to memory, “Uh, I’m sure you have more people to talk to, I don’t want to keep you!” 

Beruka could tell from her tone that she absolutely wanted to keep Lucina around. Lucina put a hand on Severa’s,

“Severa, no one is more important to me right now.”

Severa took a deep breath and gently removed her hands from Beruka’s hair. She stammered,

“Thanks, uh, did you want some more punch? Just wait right here.”

“Of course.”

Severa snatched up her and Lucina’s cups with one hand, and Beruka with the other. Beruka trailed behind her. Once they arrived at the punch bowl, Severa whispered,

“Sorry my friends are so loud, do you wanna duck out?”

“Is that allowed?” Beruka stared at the armed guards posted at several exits. Severa smacked herself in the face.

“Gods, sorry, yes, of course we can leave.” She made a sword slashing motion, “Those are just ceremonial blades, no one here’s armed. Except you, Lucina, and her dad, I guess.” 

Beruka closed her eyes, “You knew I brought an axe?”

“I didn’t know it was an AXE…” Severa laughed, “Anyway, you looked really uncomfortable, did you want to take a walk outside?”

“Yes. I shall rejoin you once I feel refreshed.”

“I mean, I could go with you-”

“Should you leave Lucina by herself?”

Severa groaned, then threw her head back and sighed, then groaned again and pressed her face into Beruka’s shoulder, “I don’t wanna leave you by yourself either!”

Beruka pat her head, removed Severa from her shoulder, then aimed her back towards Lucina. Severa said,

“Fine! Whatever. If you don’t feel like returning to the party, you can just go to our room after your walk.”

Beruka nodded, “You will need to compose an excuse. Lucina watched us talk.”

“Dang. Well, have fun, I’m going to drown myself in the punch bowl.”

“Thank you, Severa.”

“Yeah. Just doing what I can for a friend.” Severa smiled, but there was something off. Beruka couldn’t place what it was.

There was no way Beruka would ask Severa how she was feeling, so instead she made a beeline for the doors. Away from the center of the ballroom, it was much quieter. The guards were practically statues, silent and watchful. Beruka watched one of them tense up as she approached. She could reach her axe in half a second, less if she was ready. The guard lunged forward. It grabbed the door handle and pulled the door open in front of Beruka. She stared at the guard, who nodded and motioned her through.

What a world where they had guards just to hold the doors. Severa did mention that Ylisse had known peace for many years.

The exterior hallway was even quieter. There was only the distant sound of partying and the gentle patter of other people walking through the carpeted halls. This was her element. She snuck through the hall, and aimed for the exterior garden. With any luck, no one would talk to her for the rest of the night. While she did enjoy Severa’s company, sometimes it was hard to deal with a constant deluge of words. After she calmed down, she’d go to bed first, then pretend to be asleep while Severa joined her. It was almost like a ritual for them.

Eventually, Beruka found a darkened balcony. It was huge, there were three full-sized trees, and six large flowerbeds. Someone was moving in the shadows. Beruka moved stealthily to investigate, better to spy on someone without their knowledge than startle them.

A sharpened axe slashed through the darkness. Beruka jumped back and drew her own axe. The axe wielder shouted,

“Aha! An assassin! I’ve dealt with your kind before.”

“How did you know?” Beruka glanced around for an exit. She couldn’t turn back, or her opponent would strike her down. The balcony would do.

“Isn’t it obvious? A seemingly defenseless princess, a distant balcony garden, this was bound to happen.”

The princess feinted, but Beruka didn’t fall for it. She advanced, axe at the ready.

“Before you’re defeated, tell me one thing: Why the axe?”

“I didn’t think I’d be accosted tonight.”

The princess laughed, “You thought you’d find me defenseless? Well, think again!” She swung wildly. From the wrist movement, Beruka could tell this person had more control than it looked. There were no openings that weren’t accounted for. She backed up towards the balcony, pretending to be cowed by her opponent’s display. The princess spoke more covertly,

“You know, I could’ve called for guards like a dozen times already! If you’re an assassin, you’re doing a very bad job.”

“Sorry. I haven’t done any jobs in a while.”

“What? So why would they hire you to kill me? I’m a legendary warrior, you know!”

Beruka eyed the balcony, “I wasn’t hired to kill you.”

“But you are an assassin?” The other person stopped swinging their axe.

“Yes. A former assassin.”

“That doesn’t count!” The princess rolled her eyes, “That means you aren’t trying to kill me!”

“I apologize for the confusion.” Beruka concealed her axe, “Here. Now I pose less of a threat.”

“Thanks!” The princess walked towards the center of the garden, “Uh, wait, do you even know my name?”

“No. Shall I call you 'princess'?”

The princess laughed, “Aw, that’s kinda romantic! Nah, just call me Lissa! What’s your name?”

“I’m Beruka.”

“That’s an unusual name! Are you from Valm?”

“Nohr. Severa brought me through an interdimensional portal.”

Lissa smiled sheepishly, “Right! That’s what this ball was about.” She slammed her axe down on an already-split log, turning it into tiny chunks, “Sorry, I’m not great at remembering stuff like that.”

Beruka moved to the side of the garden, up against a shady tree, “Why are you chopping those logs? They’re already split.”

Lissa laughed once, then abruptly stopped smiling. She brought the axe down again, “Aha, do you want the princess answer, or the real answer?”

“Whichever you prefer.”

“I’m kinda just blowing off steam. The crowds were a little too much for me, so I left.” She muttered, “And it doesn’t help that my nightmares have started again,” Then immediately switched back to her normal volume, “I know it’s a little silly for a princess to act like this.”

Beruka shook her head, “It’s anything but silly.”

“Thanks? Uh, what do you mean?”

“If you’re bothered by it then it’s not silly. Especially nightmares.”

“You heard that, then.” Lissa spoke quietly, “I guess a former assassin would know how to listen. So what was your job in Nohr, then?”

“A retainer.” Lissa gave her a strange look, Beruka tried to explain, “A retainer is a personal servant. We also acted as bodyguards, housekeepers, or anything else our lady required.”

“You didn’t have castle staff?”

“Each castle had its own staff.”

“So why did you need to do housekeeping?”

Beruka turned away from Lissa. If she could disappear into the tree, she would. “We also performed those duties when we were on the campaign trail.”

Lissa gasped, “What! She got housekeeping on the road? I’ve always had to help with laundry, even when everyone thought we were just humouring Chrom.” She huffed, then giggled, “Oh right, you probably don’t know about the Shepherds. We’re sort of like a militia, but run by the king.”

“That’s just an army.”

“That’s what I said! It’s been a lot of fun, and we saved the world once!”

“So why the nightmares?”

Lissa’s smile faded, and she glanced up at the night sky. A cool breeze wafted through the garden, carrying the sweet scent of pine and a distant smoke. Lissa sunk her axe into the dirt and sighed. When she looked at Beruka, it was… casually? Beruka couldn’t describe it, but she looked happy.

“Beruka, I think you’re like, really cute. How your hair and scarf frames your face, your pretty yellow eyes…”

Beruka pulled her scarf up over her mouth.

“So I hope you still want to be friends with me afterwards.” She sighed, “Anyway, I’ve had nightmares my entire life. It just kinda comes with the territory, you know? My sister had rocks thrown at her every day, and our citizens weren’t too far from breaking into the castle and slaughtering us all. Then I lived through three wars.” She laughed, “And that’s not even what my recent nightmares were about. It’s all about castle politics, about what I should and shouldn’t wear, do, say, on and on. It almost makes me wish for the rocks again. I kinda just want to run away from it all, you know?”

Lissa looked at her expectantly, and somehow her expression hit Beruka harder than all of her words. She felt like a hundred eyes fell on her, but it was just a very sad girl. Beruka cleared her throat and said, “That’s what Severa and I did. I mean, we ran away.” She closed her eyes.

“Sorry? You ran away from Nohr?”

“Yes.” Beruka really didn’t want to say any more than that. Severa just mentioned that they might leave in a month, and she tried everything she could to isolate them from their peers. It was only because of Severa’s quick thinking that they ended up leaving just a few days afterwards.

Lissa asked brightly, “Why?”

It hurt especially because it was someone that Beruka had trusted for so long. She wanted to devote her entire life to Camilla.

“No reason.”

“Liar.” Lissa smiled with the exact same brightness. Beruka felt her chest catch, “You don’t show much emotion, probably on purpose, right?” Lissa pointed to her scarf, “Right then you were fidgeting and even pulled your scarf further up your face. It was hard for you, wasn’t it?”

Beruka turned and hid behind the tree. “Yes.” She glared at Lissa, “But we did it, and so can you.”

Lissa looked very happy, and Beruka didn’t exactly know why. Getting some of that weight off of your chest can help.

“I don’t think running away will help.” Lissa tossed her axe into the air, then caught it perfectly, “It’s sort of a me problem. Do you want to walk back to the party together?”

Beruka shook her head, “I’m heading to bed.”

“Huh.” Lissa smiled, “I wish I could do that.”

“Why don’t you?”

Lissa stammered, “Well, I’m expected to stay. The nobles will be upset if I don’t show up.” 

“Do you really care about them?” Beruka knew she was crossing a line here. What if Lissa’s anxiety was right? Beruka could probably smuggle her out of the country.

Lissa put her hands on her hips, “Are you trying to convince me to get some well-deserved rest instead of talking with unpleasant and stuffy nobles?”

Beruka nodded.

“Well, that’s an easy sell! I’d take your offer, but my insomnia has been acting up again.”

“Oh.”

“Is your bedroom in the guest wing?” Lissa took her hand and turned into the corridor. Beruka didn’t have time to object to it, but it also wasn’t unpleasant.

“It’s the thirty-seventh door on the right, from this location.”

Lissa stammered, “The thirty-seventh door? How do you know that?”

“I counted them.”

“That’s kinda terrifying, how did you learn to do that?”

“Practice.” Beruka gave her a sidelong glance, “How did you learn to function with insomnia?”

“Hah. No easy questions tonight.” Lissa smiled, “I don’t. I let other people make the hard decisions. You don’t mind a very, very personal anecdote, right?”

Beruka shook her head.

“Thanks. You’re… uh, thanks for listening to me. If I sleep with a certain person, I can definitely get a good night’s rest. He was bony, small, but nearly perfectly still when he slept. Weird, right? Shouldn’t that make it harder to sleep on someone?”

Halfway through that description, Beruka narrowed her eyes and cringed. Those same descriptors applied to her, when compared to Severa. They didn’t have any problems falling asleep together.

“I’ve been described as corpse-like while I sleep.”

Lissa gasped, then began feeling Beruka through her tunic, “Beruka. Are you suggesting that I sleep with you?”

Beruka nodded. Lissa smiled, and a tear welled up in her eye. She brushed it out, then kissed Beruka on the cheek.

“I have never been so glad to meet an assassin at midnight.”

**Author's Note:**

> ah i love writing beruka. i literally just write normally, then cut out 90% of her words. lissa is also great b/c she's lissa  
> sdfkjl i still need to figure out how to write cherche. my main goal is to write at least one fic that features her this week.
> 
> feel free to leave kudos or comments! thanks for reading!


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